Watching the building of structures built by “people who care” is more fun than bird-watching. In recent history, “people who care” gave us huge, government structures based on the foundation of “caring” about Prohibition, Public Education, Social Security, Welfare, The War on Drugs, Health Care, Global Freezing, Global Warming, Open Borders, Closed Borders, Cleaner Air, Cleaner Water, Cleaner Dirt, and countless bureaus and agencies that care about far more things than those.
Each such structure begins with “A Problem”. “A Problem” is selected, and “the necessary research” is done to define the problem. Then, press releases and TV segments begin to introduce people to the existence of “A Problem”.
A handful of people, maybe a dozen or so, are involved in the beginning of this process. A few articles in the New York Times are quickly disseminated by the Ass’d. Press, which sends stories to two thousand newspapers. These stories begin to appear, as if by magic, across the country. Their very presence provides credibility. Millions are made aware of A Problem. Some Ass’d. Press releases are coded. If a press release that says “Fat people get cancer” is coded, hypothetically, “A-1”, then every newspaper is encouraged to print it the next day. Less profitable releases may appear on a slower schedule.
At the same time, talk shows, all of which feature people who have a reputation for being “concerned” and “active”, are used to make the people unable to read aware of “A Problem”. Some of these skilled actors and actresses are respectfully called “activists”, as if that means something more profound than having discovered a profitable sideline to augment income during slow periods in their careers. They are able to appear very solemn and caring as they bring “A Problem” to life.
Then, “A Problem” becomes worthy of “solving”. “We have to do something about this. Leading scientists (a gaggle of broken-down leftists unable to make a living by telling the truth) agree.” A few of these “leading scientists”, often dressed in lab smocks or surgery greens, are paraded onto various shows, where they read carefully written scripts off teleprompters while nodding wisely with wide-eyed sincerity. Those who still take such people seriously are sometimes persuaded to write legislators, make phone calls, tell others about the new dangers, and “get involved”, frequently by making a “donation to this important cause”.
When “A Problem” has grown to this level, funding proposals are made to taxing authorities. If successful, “A Problem” makes the subtle change to “The Problem”. “We need to regulate and/or tax all activities that may make ‘The Problem’ worse.”
In a few months or years, depending on what urgency The Problem can be made to seem to have, funding is established. Those involved in “The Problem” prefer to set up their own, new bureaucracy, hopefully with the much-envied “Cabinet Status” to handle “The Problem” in the most efficient way possible. “Most efficient” means spending countless trillions of dollars. Those with their own bureaucracies are able to approach those with taxing powers directly. That, for those involved in such things, is the definition of heaven.
This entire process would grind to a halt if two things happened:
First, we all stop caring about anything except taking care of our own families.
Secondly, we develop the wisdom and discipline to understand that everything that every “problem” we hear about is either created by those addicted to taxes or has been invented by them.
